November 28, 2012

Hi everybody!I started a new blog! As you may know, I am currently trying to become a children's book illustrator. I have an official illustration website, and I figured that I should probably have a fresh, clean blog to go with it. I'll be posting various art there, sketches, digital illustrations, and Etsy portraits as well. If you've enjoyed reading this blog, I hope you'll follow my new one too. :)-Kelley

November 23, 2012

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of drawing a portrait of this beautiful bride. I love her hair!

When the bride received her drawing, she was so happy that she ordered another one! This time it's of her and her husband:

Handsome couple, right? These portraits are going to be gifts for their parents, and I just think that's awesome. Not only is that some serious planning in advance on their part, but their parents are getting thoughtful, sentimental, custom-made gifts this year. I am excited for them to receive their portraits!

October 29, 2012

All my life people told me that I should become an artist when I grew up. For a while I fought against that. One reason was because I was afraid that if I drew art as a job, it wouldn't be fun anymore. That was a chance I decided to take when I finally took the plunge and entered art school.

I haven't blogged for a long time, but do you know what I've been doing these days? Drawing. Drawing drawing drawing every day. Most of it homework, but also some personal work and the occasional Etsy order. I've been so prolific this autumn, it's crazy, and my work has improved a lot.

And I'm really happy. When I sit down at my desk (pictured above) and know that all I need to do that day is draw a ton of stuff, I can hardly believe how amazing my life is.

True, I'm still a student and so maybe things will change once I try to do this as a profession. Maybe it will start to feel more like work. Or maybe it will be even MORE fun once people are paying me to do it. Who knows?

August 6, 2012

For class our assignment was to design a decorative gift box. I thought about it and decided to make a box for tourists buying souvenirs in San Francisco. They can put their souvenirs in these cute boxes and give it to their friends - so the box becomes part of the experience.

My classmates really liked the idea of drawing Chinatown on a takeout box. So I looked online and found a takeout box template from this crafting website:

Next I digitally drew along the template, using some photos of Chinatown for reference. I included the green entrance gate, because that's an iconic part of Chinatown. The rest of the buildings are generally constructed from imagination and memory.

I love San Francisco's Chinatown. It's such a crazy mix of cultures - feeling very touristy but also like you're really in another country. It's crowded and old and run-down and colorful and it smells like incense and delicious Chinese food.

I had it printed on 11x17 glossy cardstock paper, which always gives things a nice, store-bought look. I cut, folded and glued the box together.

July 17, 2012

This summer I'm taking a class called "Decorative Illustration." Part of the class involves designing greeting cards, and it's a lot of fun. Our first assignment was to design a non-holiday, "anytime" card.

First I drew a bunch of thumbnails. I hate this step, and after about 6 thumbnails I usually run out of good ideas and start scraping the bottom of my mind barrel.

I took my favorite idea out of the bunch and sketched it out in pencil. My favorite part is the stuffed whale - it's based on a stuffed animal my Mom made me when I was little.

Next I digitally added colors on top, trying various color schemes.

My teacher liked the last one the best, so I cleaned it up digitally and added some detail.

Then I printed it out on a card and made a matching envelope for it.

Cute, huh? It's kind of thrilling to design something on the computer and then hold it in your hands. I plan on sending this card to my grandma. :)

About Me

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Recent feedback

"These portraits are sure to become heirlooms for our daughter. We will enjoy them for years to come. Thanks again kelley for your hard work and amazing talent. Tell your art Professors that I think they just need to hand you your art degree now."